Sacrifice to Time
by Clouds on Monday
Summary: The price of being the Ultimate Life form is having immortality. Shadow lives on, while others succumb to the years. Hundreds of years have passed, and fate has finally given him a new reason to keep living. Full summary inside.
1. Kids

**Sacrifice to Time**

_Summary: The price of being the Ultimate Life form is having the gift, or curse, of immortality. Shadow lives on, while others succumb to the years. Hundreds of years have passed, and fate has finally given him a new reason to keep living. And it comes in the form of a little silver hedgehog. With newfound freinds and allies, Shadow experiences the fresh taste of adventure, adrenaline, and danger._

**Chapter One**

It wasn't quite like he had expected at first. During his first experiences of Earth he was tangled in an untameable web of distress. Everything has been obscured with chaos, and only very little light had filtered through the gaps of destruction. But once the debris and dust has been cleared away, Shadow can truly appreciate the world.

No more distractions.

No more fighting.

No more wars.

Even the Chaos Emeralds had seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth. Shadow never encountered the Chaos Emeralds ever again.

He finally has found a moment in time where everything is harmonised together. Peace is finally imminent throughout the world. Minor conflicts still exist, but only on petty situations. The odd lover's quarrel, the occasional hormonal teenager bickering with their parents, the infrequent arguments over what colour the bathroom walls should have been painted.

Humanity is finally content with the world. But to Shadow, it happened too late. The change for good has happened over two hundred years too late.

Shadow walked across a grassy plain. The clearing was tinted in an orange hue due to the setting sun, and the sky has adopted a temporary shade of pink. There were no clouds, and faint winds had wafted over a scent of drying leaves. Occasional trees dotted the grassy field, and a herd of deer was grazing nearby to Shadow. As he walked on he found that the clearing had come to an abrupt end, the flat plains interrupted by a sheer drop in the form of craggy cliffs. Shadow stopped at the edge, taking in the sight of the sun as it set across a horizon of blood red oceans.

A wave crashed across the cliff face, sprays of salty water heightening Shadow's senses. The thunderous roar of the waves echoed in Shadow's mind as he watched the sun fade away. And shadow sat down at the edge, reflecting over the past.

The hedgehog inspected his new gloves, the original white fabric tainted red from the solar rays. The folded cuffs are crimson, where gold rings held in the cuffs in place. His jet shoes were long gone and worn out. Shadow now bore heavy duty boots, a gold ring at the top. Crimson buckles ran across the tongue of the boots. The soles were black, with small jet propellers at the heel and ball.

Shadow, however, still looked the same. After over two hundred years he has not aged at all. And he is yet to remain like so for many more years ahead.

If only others were to last as long as he will.

Death was not something that is new to Shadow. He knew how painful it can be. But no matter how many times he has experienced the death of a loved one, each one was just as painful as the next. And there was nothing that Shadow can do to ease the pain. His only painkiller was time, yet time was also the source of his pain.

The seemingly invincible Sonic could not even run away from time. Age had finally caught up to him, and the blue blur is lost in the timeline. His friends had also succumbed to age, and one by one they fell to their fate. Only Shadow was left behind.

"Excuse me?"

Shadow gasped slightly. He turned around to face the person who startled him.

"You okay there, sir?" said a stout hedgehog behind him. He was short, his small stature covered in grey fur, and a peculiar style of quills extended from his forehead.

"Y-yeah..." Shadow sighed, looking back at the setting sun. "I'm fine, thanks."

The silver hedgehog nodded in understanding and walked off, back in the direction he came from. Shadow sighed and decided to stand up. He stared at the horizon, the sun finally disappearing into the sea. Small pinpricks of stars seeped through the inky blue sky, forming their routinely shaped constellations in the night.

Shadow closed his eyes, listening to everything around him. The crashing waves still roared behind him. The grass beneath his feet hissed in the wind, and the breeze sighed into the scattered trees. He felt his fur start to become ruffled in the wind, the chill occasionally found its way to seep to his skin. Shadow shivered from the cold sensations and walked back through the grassy field.

His ears pricked slightly to his left, focusing on the sound of laughter. Shadow gave a short glance to the grey hedgehog, who played merrily with a ball. A lavender cat was playing with him too, throwing the ball for the hedgehog to catch. They laughed in euphoria, enjoying their youth while it lasted. Something that Shadow will never experience in his lifetime.

The ebony hedgehog smiled to himself as he head towards the direction of his home.

"Blaze, I want you to throw it as far as you can!" Shadow overheard the young hedgehog. "I want to catch it with my telekinesis!"

"Okay, Silver!" the cat, or Blaze, replied. "You better not let it go over the cliff!"

Shadow stopped in his tracks, curious to watch the little boy use his psychic abilities. He watched the ball as it soared through the air, several meters above the silver hedgehog. The ball glowed with an eerie green light, casting a green luminosity upon the little hedgehog's fur. Blaze clapped happily.

"Well done, Silver!" she called out to him. "Now, throw it back to me."

Silver nodded his head in acknowledgement. He closed his eyes for a second, his hand twitching slightly as he visualised throwing a ball with his mind. The ball then stopped glowing and suddenly hurtled over the cliff. Silver, realising his mistake, ran near the cliff edge and held up his arms. The ball suspended once more, hovering unsteadily above the sea.

Shadow narrowed his eyes, staring at the young Silver carefully. Blaze gasped and ran up to Silver, looking over the cliff edge.

"Silver," she said urgently. "It's okay, you can let go of the ball now. It doesn't matter, I can always get a new one."

"No, Blaze" he breathed, a hint of happiness in his voice. "I've never been able to hold anything in a strong wind before. I want see if I can bring it back up."

Blaze shook her head. "No, Silver!" she pointed at the ball. It hovered above the waves, dipping up and down occasionally and veering off the side. "Look, it's unsteady. You aren't ready for this level yet. You can't control it."

"I can control it!" he gasped. "Look, I can lift it up towards us!"

"Silver! You can't control it." Blaze put her hands on her hips. "You'll only exhaust yourself! You know that it's dangerous to push our ESP past our limit!"

Shadow watched the two bicker at the edge of the cliff. He eyed them closely, not liking how close the two were so close to the edge of cliff. It was fully night time now, and the lack of light would not illuminate the clear edge of the steep cliff.

"Silver, stop," she told him firmly. "I'm scared, just stop."

Silver didn't reply, his arms relaxing. The little hedgehog was breathing heavily, watching the ball descend into the treacherous waters below. Blaze sighed in relief.

"I couldn't hold it," he said through heavy breaths. "I let go."

"Good!" she scolded, pointing a finger at him. "You are so hard headed sometimes! It is just unbelieva-"

Silver suddenly collapsed forward, plunging over the edge. Blaze screamed Silver's name, peering over as she watched him fall. Shadow's eyes widened, his heart raced, his breathing came in quick gasps as he lunged into action.

Shadow jumped over the edge, diving into the cold water beneath. He shivered violently as he felt the water soak into his fur, but he chose to ignore it as he swam to the surface for air. He looked around, searching for the grey hedgehog. Shadow looked up at Blaze, who pointed somewhere behind Shadow. He followed her gaze, seeing Silver barely floating on the treacherous waves. Shadow swam as fast as he possibly could. Once he reached Silver he helped him stay above the water, preventing Silver from drowning.

"You okay, kid?" Shadow shouted over the roar of the waves. "Get on my back, and keep your head up!"

Shadow battled against the current, trying his hardest to avoid being slammed into the jagged rocks of the cliff. He tried to look for a way to get back up the cliff, but he couldn't think of anything or anyway to return to safety. Shadow was starting to become tired, his legs become numb from both exhaustion and the cold temperature of the sea.

But Shadow could feel something else. He felt a tingling sensation, much different to the tingling he is feeling in his aching legs. No, this sensation felt familiar. Too familiar.

Shadow decided to focus on this sensation, letting the comforting feeling take over his body. He almost craved it, and focused harder on it. Shadow couldn't identify the source of this strange phenomenon, but he can somehow draw upon more of this energy. He gathered it up, compressing the energy into the core of his body. His body was craving it. Shadow knew this feeling all too well.

Shadow compressed the energy further within himself, filling up his lost reserves of this power. Focusing on the contained power he has newly contained within himself, he suddenly let the energy collapse within himself, eventually exploding and surging through his body. Shadow felt instantaneously stronger, and he suddenly felt more alive.

Instinct kicked in.

Shadow and Silver were suddenly surrounded in a bright light, and they disappeared. Almost as quickly as they left, they materialised in another bright light atop the cliff. Shadow felt Silver topple over him before he rolled off the black hedgehog's body. Silver spluttered as he tried to recover, welcoming the feeling of being able to breathe. Blaze ran over to Silver's shaking form, hugging him tightly so he could at least recover some warmth from her.

Shadow sat up, his face screwed into a bitter expression as he spat out the remaining salt water that had entered his mouth. Steadying himself slightly, he walked over to Silver and Blaze to check how they were both doing.

"Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling down to Silver's height. Silver coughed as he nodded his head in reply.

"C'mon, let's take you kids to your homes," he instructed, helping Silver to his feet. Blaze and Silver shivered, their damp fur not helping them deal with the cold. "Where do you live?"

"We live in the city," Blaze said through chattering teeth. "Near the city bank."

Shadow nodded, happy that at least they lived near to where Shadow also lived. "How old are you?" Shadow purged. "Kids like you shouldn't be near here after dark."

"I'm ten years old," Blaze replied. "Silver is also ten."

The ebony hedgehog looked at them, giving both Blaze and Silver a hard stare. Blaze shrank slightly, desperate to escape Shadow's gaze. She sighed in relief when he looked away, walking off. Shadow called over his shoulder for the two to follow him. They obeyed obediently, trailing behind the dark and mysterious hedgehog.

Shadow smirked slightly, finding some humour on how the kids were suddenly scared of him from his cold gaze. Yet, they followed his instruction wordlessly.

Shadow took off his gloves, squeezing the water out of them before putting them back on. He noticed Silver doing the same. Shadow chuckled slightly at this gesture, but it soon escalated into a heartier and louder laugh. His laugh was contagious, and Blaze and Silver were laughing along with him. Soon enough Blaze and Silver were in a fit of giggles, holding each other's hand in enjoyment, and relief, of their company.

Shadow smiled at the two, but then his gaze turned serious once more as Shadow escaped into deep thought. He was confused. He was very confused indeed. Shadow had done something he hasn't done in a long time.

Shadow used Chaos Control.

He hasn't pulled that move in over two hundred years. What's more, he hasn't seen another Chaos Emerald in over two hundred years. He needed a Chaos emerald to activate Chaos Control.

Shadow doesn't have a Chaos Emerald.

This is something he will need to investigate further in the future. But first, he has to return Blaze the Cat and Silver the Hedgehog back home.

Authors Note:

_Hi, hope you are enjoying this fic. First chapter. Yeah boii! _

_Well, I haven't seen a fic where Shadow lives in the future and find Silver and Blaze. So I hope you are enjoying this as I am whilst writing it. _

_Remember to review. And critique. They are a great motivator you know :)_

_You know you want to :P_

_Until the next chapter, cya! _

_Pazzy x_


	2. Open Door

**Sacrifice to Time**

**Chapter 2**

A man flicked open his lighter, a burst of flame erupted from the resulting spark. He pulled the flame close to his face, illuminated in orange and yellow light, to light a cigarette hanging loosely on his thin lips. He breathed in, the end of the white stick glowing from the freshly lit embers.

"I think you've had too many of those for today"

He looked across the room through half lidded eyes. He tilted his head up slightly and exhaled a mini smog of grey. The smoke wafted over to the other end of the room, its dusty entrails curling around a woman's black hair. She wrinkled her nose, raising a hand to fan away the smoke.

"What do you want?" he asked as he sat up in his chair. He tapped the arm rest impatiently with his free hand, while the other held the burning cigarette.

"Locke, I think you should take a look at this." The woman put a brown envelope on the table in front of him hastily. Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she stepped back, observing him as he tore open the letter.

His hand reached inside the brown package, pulling out sheets of paper. He gave a quick glance at each page, only looking up to give the woman occasional looks of confusion. She shook her head, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

"Rhonda, when did this happen?" Locke grumbled before taking another long drag from the white stick. Rhonda sighed, rolling her eyes in irritation.

"Two hours ago, on the cliffs of Dover, England" she stated, flicking her black hair behind her. Locke smirked, leaning back into his chair as grey smoke escaped from his parted lips.

"Book a plane there immediately. I want to find out who used Chaos Control," he laughed slightly to himself. Rhonda nodded before she turned around on her heel, proceeding outside. Locke carried on taking long drags from the cigarette, relishing the feeling of absorbing the Nicotine. "If someone used Chaos Control, they must have a Chaos Emerald."

xxx

Shadow yawned slightly as he entered his own apartment. He took off the rings on his wrists, tossing them noisily on the floor. These rings acted as a restrictor, to help stop Shadow from over using power. But at the moment he needed to clarify something first, and he needed all of the power he could muster.

He closed his eyes, trying to re-enact the situation when Shadow rescued Silver. He first noticed the sensation when he knew Silver was safe, or safer for that matter.

Shadow stood still. He kept his eyes closed. His mind was swirling in a mass of confusion, frustration and disappointment. He tried to push these thoughts into the back of his mind, to try and clear his conscience. However, he grew angrier when he doesn't even know where he is trying to channel this power from. When Shadow wants to call upon Chaos Control, he focused the energy from a physical Chaos emerald in front of him. With nothing to focus on, Shadow couldn't draw upon any power.

Yet, earlier on, he did manage to find a source of strength.

But Shadow could only trace the power that was seeping into him, instead of him seeking out the source.

A knock on his door interrupted him from his deep thoughts.

"Wait there," he called out, not bothering to hide his irritation. Shadow huffed as he collected the gold rings on the floor and put them back on his wrist. Satisfied to their correct placement, Shadow proceeded to his front door and opened it. He looked out, his eyes suddenly narrowing as he stared at the person in front of him. "What do you want now?"

A yellow otter stood in front of him. Her ears were flattened on her head; short tufts of fur were held back in a messy ponytail. She waved wordlessly, stepping inside Shadow's home without waiting for a reply or invitation. "I heard what happened," she stated simply, walking towards his sofa so he could sit down. "I thought you said you're trying to lay low."

Shadow slammed the door shut, annoyed that his privacy is once again interrupted. "I am staying low," he almost growled. "I just had a small mishap."

The otter shook her head. "That's not what I'm talking about, Shadow!" she retorted. "Saving people's lives is not the problem. But the weird magic thing is!"

"Magic thing?" he scoffed. "Lee, it's called Chaos Control-"

"Exactly! You told me you needed an Emerald to use it!" Lee shouted. "The Chaos Emeralds are gone! What's just happened, Shadow? You know the Emeralds made the Earth corrupt. You've just moved to England for a new life. It's all ruined now. You're going to have to move back again-"

"Just get off my back!" Shadow finally snapped. "I know what is going on, and I know what I'm doing. Last thing I need is an Otter walking around my house and talking like a parrot!"

Lee pointed jabbed her finger into his chest. "That is racist!" she yelled, narrowing her eyes.

"Go build a dam somewhere, Lee" Shadow ignored her comment. "I'm really busy, and I'm trying to do something!"

The otter gasped in both shock and anger. She pushed past him and walked back to the front door. Shadow sighed in irritation.

Lee forcibly opened the door, swearing under her breath. She paused in the door frame and turned around to face him. "Look Shadow," she began. "You are the worst colleague I have ever worked with. If working with you was not in my job requirements, I would have slapped you the day I met you. I would have punched you so hard that you'd be sipping your meals through a crazy straw for the rest of your eternal life!"

"Get out, Lee." He grumbled, waving her off as he started to walk to the kitchen.

"I'm not this Rouge girl from the past, Shadow!" Lee shouted. "She died years ago. New people are going to always come up. You're going to need to change your attitude, Shadow! You may have lived for over two hundred years, but right now you are acting like you are three!"

She pulled out a brown envelope and threw it to a nearby table irritably. "I was sent here to deliver this, prick."

Before the envelope touched the surface of the table, Lee slammed the front door loudly. The impact made the nearby walls vibrate, shaking a photograph off a wall hook and falling to the floor. Shadow growled in frustration, muttering a string of curses as he picked up the photo frame. The glass was cracked from the fall, looking like a thick spider web was spun there. He shook his head as he removed the photograph from the frame, carefully so he doesn't damage it. He threw the frame into the bin shortly afterwards.

Shadow sat down on his sofa, leaning back slightly as he relaxed his tired body. He held the photo up higher into the light as he gazed at it. His crimson eyes jumped from each face to the next, his lips occasionally twitching into a smile.

It was a group photograph, containing him at the centre of a large group of people. Shadow was being hugged by an enthusiastic young Cream, her Chao bobbing happily on Shadows head. Amy was doing the same to Sonic, who was grinning with ecstasy. Sonics arm stretched over to Tails, ruffling his tuft of hair on his head. Knuckles and Rouge were back to back on the other side of the photo, with Omega towering over them all. Shadow turned over the photograph, reading a note that was scrawled messily on the back.

"To Shadow," he read it out quietly. "Knowing you, you would always escape and evade us when there is a camera involved. Yes, we did take this picture in secret, but at least we have proof that you have the ability to smile. We were beginning to think you had no soul since you seem to never ever curl your lips. Happy birthday. From Sonic and the gang..."

He turned the photograph back over, looking at his image. His image showed him looking up at the Chao on his head, his eyes considerably brighter. His lips were parted, showing a toothy grin. He was laughing in this picture. Shadow was actually laughing with his friends.

He put the picture down.

"That was in the past," he muttered under his breath. Shadow closed his eyes, feeling his fatigue succumbing him to the darkness. "I don't have that anymore..."

xxx

_Five Years later_

There was a knock on the door. Shadow shook his head, taking his time as he went to the front door. He swung it open lazily, looking outside with narrow eyes.

"What now, Lee?" he said monotonously, a greeting that has now been ingrained whenever he opened the front door. However, his gaze met a mass of grey fanned of quills. The yellow otter that he usually saw knocking on his door was absent, and in her place was a silver hedgehog. "Who are you?" he blurted in surprise.

The grey hedgehog scratched the back of his head sheepishly, looking shyly at Shadows shoes. His amber eyes finally met Shadows crimson orbs, and the grey hedgehog smiled.

"Hi, sir."

Shadow folded his arms, studying the grey hedgehog's features. "Have we met?" he mused, searching through the depths of his memories, tracing where he may have come across this boy's familiar features. Shadows eyes widened slightly. "You're that kid..."

The hedgehog looked up at Shadow expectantly, his face beamed with a smile. "I'm glad that you have recognised me, sir. My name is Silver, just in case you have forgotten, and I just want you to know-"

"Silver," Shadow cut in. "Where's the pink cat?"

Silver raised a brow in confusion, his lips involuntarily mouthing the word 'pink'. Silver then smiled in apprehension, nodding his head. "I see! Who, Blaze?" Silver chuckled. "She's lavender, not pink, but otherwise she is at school, which is why I came here-"

"What you want?" Shadow interrupted rudely, narrowing his eyes once again. Silver laughed nervously, feeling anxious about Shadows reaction to his unplanned arrival. Silver made a low humming noise before he opened his mouth again to speak.

"I have an assignment from school, and it's about the most influential people that matter to us," Silver paused, carefully wording out what he wanted to say in his mind. "And, after you helped me from the cliffs, you are the most influential person that I have ever come across. So, I hope you don't mind or anything-"

The door was slammed shut, leaving Silver feel shocked, and most of all, hurt. Silver stood there for a while, his ears drooping slightly. He sighed, his happiness suddenly replaced with melancholy emotions. Silver turned around and proceeded to go back to where he came from.

"Hey, kid."

Silver turned around, seeing Shadow lean on his doorframe lazily. The black hedgehog had a tired look, his expression bore a frown. "Come back, Kid. I've changed my mind. I need something to cure my boredom." He called out to Silver. The grey hedgehog suddenly beamed, giving Shadow a small respectable nod to the head. Shadow stepped aside to let Silver through the door into his home.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Shadow yawned slightly. Silver looked at Shadow apprehensively. To the grey hedgehog, Shadow certainly seemed to act like a grumpy old man, despite his young appearance. Yet, Silver knew full well that once he knew who Shadow was, Shadow was far from young. Shadow has lived for a long time, and his increasing wisdom seems to make Shadow more and more despondent to the world.

"I'm just gonna ask some questions about you," Silver said as he smiled happily. "And if it's okay with you, do you think you would be able to attend a presentation evening at my school? You don't have to be there the whole time if you don't want to-"

"Yeah, yeah sure..." Shadow sighed unenthusiastically. "Ask away..."

Silver looked like Christmas has come early. He positively beamed at how Shadow has been willing to co-operate with him. Silver couldn't believe his luck.

"O-okay," he started. "So... have you ever been married?"

xxx

The sea crashed against jagged rocks which jutted out to the ocean. The trails of rocks were an extension of a cliff face. A man was scaling down the cliff, placing his foot carefully on the rocky surfaces. Once he was halfway down, he took out a small square device. He turned it on, wiping sea spray from the display screen. It showed a map, illuminated in green lines and a pulsating red dot. A single blue line rotated around the screen, beeping every time it touched the red dot. It was a radar.

The man inspected it further, and soon enough a satisfied expression spread across his face. He put the radar away in his pocket and pulled a black bundle of fat sticks from his back pack. He kicked the cliff in one spot, digging a small hole. Once the hole was big enough he put the sticks inside it, making sure that it was secure. There was a small black box attached to it, and the man pressed a button on the box. The black box glowed green as a set of numbers flashed on the screen. It began to count down, and the digits started to become less and less.

"Here we go!" he exclaimed as he suddenly started to scramble up the cliff, his pace quick and urgent. Once he got to the top he unclipped his belt, his safety rope and climbing gear. Even there he did not stop, and began to sprint into a grassy field. A herd of deer scrambled in fear as he approached them, and he threw himself to the ground, covering his head with his hands.

There was a brief moment of silence, bar the hissing of the wind as it passed through thick blades of drying grass.

He waited.

A deafening boom echoed around him, and the ground shook. He stood up and faced the destruction. Bits of vegetation were burning, and a crescent of the cliff was blown away from the explosion. He tried to blink away the dust as he took out his mobile phone. He called a number and put the phone to his ear.

"Locke," he announced. "The door is open."

xxx

_Silver... I'm making him sound like a geek... but then again he isn't the same Silver that you have met in Sonic Next Gen. The Iblis trigger has been erased from time, remember? Wow, that game made me laugh so much._


	3. Glass

**Sacrifice to Time**

**Chapter 3**

"Why have you not aged?"

"No comment."

"What were you doing for the past two hundred years?"

"No comment."

"Do you have any grandchildren?"

"No comment."

"Any kids?"

"No," Shadow yawned, sinking deeper into his chair. "Comment..."

Silver shifted uncomfortably in his seat. So far all of the questions that Silver asked Shadow have been answered by a simple "no comment". All of a sudden, Silver doesn't feel welcome anymore. He would have rather have the door slammed in his face again. The grey hedgehog can sense the unwelcome vibes that seemed to buzz around the room.

"Well..." Silver stalled. "Have you... What is... What if..."

"Kid," Shadow butted in. "Why me?"

Silver looked up, slightly thrown back at the sudden query. "I-I'm sorry, am I bother-"

"Why me?" Shadow repeated. "There are over fifteen billion people in the world. So, out of all of them, why am I the most influential person to you?"

Silver paused, scratching behind his ears as he thought into this. Shadow folded his arms as he waited, staring at the silver hedgehog through half lidded eyes.

"I don't know," Silver answered truthfully. "It's just, well... I really don't know. Ever since you saved me at Dover, I wanted to know more about you. You just seemed so... so ready. Ready for anything. Ready for danger. Ready for adventure. It's like you're invincible, and you know that nothing is ever going to hurt you. You just seemed so willing to throw yourself into peril situations, no matter the circumstances."

Shadow nodded, his blank expression the same as always. However, deep inside, he felt a little happier with himself. "Is that what I am?" Shadow sighed. "How does that influence you then?"

"I just..." Silver paused, taking in a deep breath. "I just wanted to be that sort of person too. I want adventure. I want to... to... to taste danger! I want to be of a use to the world. You've saved the world loads of times in the past. And I'm sure you can still save the world many times in the future when we need you. I want to be needed as well. I wanted to be... to be-"

"Like me?" Shadow interrupted, finishing the sentence for him. Silver nodded, happy that at least Shadow understood him. There was a long pause between the two, and for once Silver did not mind the silence. Shadow, however, started to once again become bored with the quiet break of the conversation. "You've lost weight," the umber hedgehog stated. "I remember you back then when you were... chubbier."

Silver laughed at this, and Shadow gave him a small smile. "Yeah," Silver chuckled. "I guess I was a little dumpy when I was younger."

Shadow nodded. "How old are you now?" he asked.

"Fifteen," Silver replied. "Just turned fifteen last week..."

Shadow smirked. "Just like Sonic when I first met him..." he trailed off, leaving Silver to look up at him in slight confusion. Shadow shook himself from his thoughts and stood up. "Sorry if I have been rude or anything-"

Shadow was interrupted by a loud knock at the door, followed by urgent rings from his doorbell. Shadow huffed, suddenly grumpy and angry, and walked towards his front door. He opened it irritably, giving his visitor a small scowl. "What now, Lee?"

This time it was Lee, and the yellow otter waved wordlessly at him. She stepped inside, regardless whether she was welcome or not, and helped herself with a glass of juice from his kitchen. "Work called," she said through sips. "Said they needed to see you."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Why do they need you to tell me? I have a phone, you know."

"Because you never answer it..." she commented dryly, giving him and incredulous look. "Anyway, G.U.N. said that something has come up, and they need you to help investigate. We have to be there by nine o'clock."

"What is it about?"

"It's hard to explain. You need to be there to understand."

Shadow nodded. Lee put her empty glass into the sink, ready to be washed for later.

"Uh, hi," Silver mumbled quietly from the kitchen doorframe. "I-I guess I should get going. Nice meeting you."

Silver disappeared. Shadow and Lee heard the front door close, indicating Silver's departure. Lee gawked at Shadow, who calmly got himself his own glass of juice.

"You had a visitor?" she gasped. Shadow gave her a sideways glance. "I thought you were more of a hermit, Shadow. No offence or anything."

Shadow scoffed at her comment, downing his drink before beckoning her to his front door. "How can I be a hermit if you keep showing up at my house?"

Lee snorted a laugh, raising a brow sceptically. "I'm not doing it by choice, deary. It's my job, and I need the money."

Shadow rolled his eyes as he adjusted his inhibitor rings. "You don't need money. You're the richest tramp I've ever met anyway."

"Funny," she sighed. "My sides are hurting from the laughter..."

Shadow shook his head wordlessly as both of them left his house, shutting the door behind them.

xxx

The scenery wasn't quite like how Shadow recognised it. The cliff had a semi-circle of rock blown away, leaving an empty crescent in the cliff face. Vegetation near the edges were scorched and burnt, some of the embers were still lit. An officer was dousing some of the flames with a fire extinguisher, clouds of white burst to the burning embers. A team of investigators were searching the area, some were looking on the ground, some were in the bushes, and some were in the clearing. A helicopter hovered above, flooding the area with its search light.

"What happened?" was Shadows initial reaction. Lee looked on casually.

"That's what I want to know, too." She said.

They both walked towards the cliff edge, looking down at the destruction. A security officer marched up to them. A white emblem was on his black jacket, indicating that he was part of G.U.N.

"Shadow, Lee," the officer addressed. "Glad you could make it. We really do have a big mess here."

"I can see that," Shadow sighed as he looked on at the destruction. "Terrorist bombing?"

"Nah... Can't be," Lee shook her head. "I don't see the goal."

The officer stepped up. "It should make more sense if you go to the destruction site. You will get quite the shock."

Shadow and Lee nodded their heads and made their way to a group of climbers. They helped put on their climbing gear, clipping on their belts and safety ropes, before abseiling down the cliff face. Lee went down first, taking slow and steady steps as she descended lower and lower. She looked up for a brief moment before she carried on, her pace slow and steady. Shadow looked on, watching her descend.

Lee paused, her head looking down. Her small ears suddenly perked up as her head faced one way. She seemed focused on one spot. Shadow heard her growl a few curses.

"What's down there?" Shadow called. He leaned over the edge a little more, trying to see just what Lee is looking at.

"You would never believe this..." she replied, her voice echoed oddly.

Lee went lower, and the rope suddenly went taught. At first, Shadow though she fell, but upon closer inspection Lee was dangling down. The footing suddenly ran out.

"There's a cave down there?" Shadow whispered to himself. The black hedgehog followed the otter, abseiling down the cliff, only at a much faster and at an eager pace. Lee lowered herself to the floor while Shadow dropped and let go as soon as he was suspended in air. Each of their footsteps echoed, their feet crunching on rubble and chalk.

"Lee, do you have your light?" Shadow tried to squint through the darkness.

"Yeah, right here." She replied. She put her hands inside her small black backpack, pulling out two plastic sticks. Lee tossed one to Shadow. He caught it, taking out the stick from the plastic packaging before cracking it against the wall. There was a small orange line of light where it made impact, and when Shadow started to shake it the stick began to fluoresce. It glows a strong yellow light, while Lee's glow stick illuminated her side of the cave in light blue.

They both held their glow sticks up, lighting the cave in a mix of green. Lee stood on the spot while Shadow carried on. He looked behind his shoulder.

"You coming?" he called.

Lee shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered. "Something doesn't feel right."

"Something doesn't feel right?" he mused. "All you got to say is that you're scared instead of pulling that out of your ass."

The otter frowned, her lips thinned. "Shadow, this is no time for snide comments," she scowled. "But I genuinely have a bad feeling about this. No joke."

The black hedgehog ignored her and carried on into the darkness. There were still clouds of dust, resulting in being fogged by a yellow glow around him. Some rubble fell from the ceiling, chips of chalk clipping his shoulders occasionally. As he walked on he found the floor suddenly much harder. His shoes made high pitched clangs with every step he took, and he looked down at ground sceptically. Shadow narrowed his eyes.

The floor was metal.

He shone his light higher, taking in his surroundings. The cave seemed to end into a metallic corridor, and a mangled metal door was at the end. Shadow stopped just a few metres from the door. Beyond the entrance he could only see pitch black darkness.

"Lee," he called out over his shoulder. "Ask if anyone has been in here yet."

"Okay." She replied, her voice bouncing off the walls in a distorted fashion. He heard her talking into her radio, the conversation too quiet and muffled for his ears to understand. "No." Lee shouted. "They've only been at the entrance."

Shadow nodded. "I'm going in."

Lee stayed silent. The otter decided to walk further into the cave, her feet crunched on the floor. She stopped as soon as her surroundings were the metal corridor, and she crouched down slightly. Shadow could tell that she was nervous. He shook his head dismissively and ignored her, sneaking up to the damaged entrance.

Now that he was closer his glow stick lit up the door more clearly. He held it up as he inspected it. It was a sliding door, yet it seemed to be bent and distorted past its useful position. Streaks of newly exposed metal reflected against the yellow light, shining in contrast to the rusted surface, as if something has clawed at it. The door bent outwards at the bottom, forming a jagged lip big enough for Shadow to crawl through.

The hedgehog put the glow stick between his teeth, leaving his hands free to help pull himself through the tight gap. As he poked his head through his glow stick fell out of his mouth, his jaws flopped open wide. He closed it quickly and hurriedly wriggled himself through; grabbing the glow stick to illuminate the room.

The area was surrounded with shattered glass, and pods lined the walls. There was some form of liquid inside each pod, and Shadow could see a faint silhouette inside the murky liquid. Shadow suddenly tensed when he realised that two pods were empty, the glass wall shattered and broken. Wires trailed out of the pods, the ends torn and frayed.

Something has escaped, and he frowned. Shadow did not like this at all.

Shadow swore under his breath as a jutting piece of glass scraped across his ankle, and fresh blood seeped to the surface of his skin, dampening his fur around the affected area. He scrunched his nose, hating the thought of Lee tending to it as soon as she notices the cut. A drop of blood dribbled to the floor, red beads occasionally spattering on broken glass and rusted metal floors as he walked.

Shadow found himself at the far end of the room where a large computer screen was mounted on the wall. A computer unit was underneath, the keys faded and covered in dust as Shadow brought the glow stick over it. He tried pressing a few buttons, hoping that it would have at least activated something, but nothing happened.

Shadows ears suddenly perked as he heard something crack behind him. He reeled around, positioning himself in a fighting stance. He held out the glow stick, the yellow light reflecting off the glass fragments on the ground. He cursed to himself when the glow was fading, the light not quite reaching the other side of the room.

He narrowed his eyes, staring closer at a dark corner of the room. Something shifted in the darkness, its movement making the glass surrounding it to crack and shatter.

"Lee?" he said, unsure of what it is. Shadow stayed put, watching the entity shift in the shadows. His heart began to race as we watched it crawl into the reaches of the fading light.

It was something fleshy and bald, bits of glass splintered across its skin. It was no bigger than Shadow. Despite the glass fragments being embedded deeply into its flesh, it seemed unaffected by it, and the wounds did not bleed. A clawed arm extended out, frayed wires were still connected to its joints. It seemed to only have one limb, which it used to drag its torso across the floor. A mutated head uncurled from the fleshy mass, and it rolled lazily as if it was loosely connected from its neck.

Shadow kept still, watching the being with narrowed eyes. It carried on dragging itself across the floor until it suddenly stopped, alerted by something. The head edged forward slightly, its nose pressed against a glass fragment. He saw something dark smudged across its face, and a white tongue licked some of the dark substance that was smeared on the floor.

Shadow looked on in horror, realising that what it was licking was his blood. He hurriedly pulled over one of his socks higher up his ankle, soaking up some of the blood that carried on dripping onto the floor. He looked up when he heard the thing crawl against the rubble, following the trails of blood that the black hedgehog had carelessly left behind. Shadow bolted towards the hole in the door, abandoning his glow stick. The sound of the jets from his boots startled the fleshy monster.

Its clawed arm extended out, almost tripping up Shadow from his sprint. Shadow kicked the arm out of the way, hearing a bone crack from its grotesque limb. The fleshy arm flopped uselessly, and its head lolled side to side in anger. Shadow kicked the ground as he slid through the gap in the door, scraping his arm on the glass.

As he pulled himself through the gap he delivered a powerful kick on one of the metal lips, closing the gap slightly to make sure the monstrous being inside would be trapped. Shadow grunted as he stood up, racing towards Lee.

"Shadow, you're bleeding!" she exclaimed as soon as she saw him. "What the hell happen-"

"No time" he huffed, dragging her with him as he ran. They rushed to their climbing ropes, Lee struggling to keep up with the black hedgehog. Putting on their harnesses they hoisted themselves up, climbing back up the cliff. Shadow was the first one up, Lee following behind him. She unclipped her equipment, out of breath and slightly exhilarated from the brief dash. Shadow, however, seemed unaffected from the recent run.

They met the gazes of a rather confused security officer, looking at the cuts and grazes from Shadows brief scuffle. Lee shook her head as she looked at the black hedgehog, taking out her small medical kit from her backpack. Shadow stubbornly shrugged her off as she approached him, and beckoned the security officer to follow him.

"What on earth happened, Shadow?" the G.U.N. officer asked. "What was down there?"

Shadow shook his head. "There is some sort of lab down there," he huffed. "And I don't like whatever they are growing inside."

xxx

_OHMAGAWD!_

_Anyway, the lab creature was something that actually cropped up in one of my dreams (lol, nightmare actually) and it really scared the SMUSH out of me! Except the version that was in my dream crawled on the ceiling instead of the floor._

_I seemed to portray Shadow as an... Hmm... an ass wipe, let's say, regarding his interactions with Lee. But hey, he's stubborn! And I always imagined him to be more like a stubborn old man if he has lived for over two hundred years._


	4. Newborn

**Sacrifice to Time**

**Chapter 4**

The G.U.N office was bustling. People were rushing by, paperwork and files being transported here and there. Some office workers were speaking on their phones, their monotonous voices echoing through the stressed ears of the workers. Occasional office assistances jostled by, numerous cups of coffee and other hot beverages crammed into their arms, delivering the drinks to their superiors. A balding man in his mid forties was swearing profusely at a photocopier, angry that the machine had leaked ink all over his bleach white shirt and the office carpet.

A typical day at work, some might say.

The double doors entering the office opened abruptly, a black hedgehog barged through with a yellow otter following behind. They were both frowning, Shadow looking the angriest out of the two.

"For God's sake, Shadow!" Lee shouted. Shadow ignored her as he briskly made his way through the office hallways. "Listen to me, for once!"

Shadow halted, resulting in Lee walking into him unexpectedly. He turned around and folded his arms, glaring at her with dislike. "Get off my back, Lee. You're giving me a headache."

Lee's eyes widened temporarily, and she jutted out her lower jaw in disbelief. She sighed petulantly, throwing her arms in the air as she did so. "I can't believe it," she said to herself. "Me? Giving you a headache? I think you have the roles switched, Shadow, because you constantly stress me out!"

He rolled his eyes. "Leave me alone. I'm busy."

"You're busy? Busy? What about me?" Lee exclaimed. "Whenever you go crazy out in the field, getting yourself carelessly injured, I have to do my paperwork as well as yours when you're in hospital getting treated!"

Shadow raised a brow. "Should this concern me?"

"Yes! I think it should!" she jabbed her index finger at Shadows chest. "You're pissing me off! I'm not getting paid enough for the shit you give me!"

Lee barged past him, knocking her shoulder angrily against him as she walked on. Shadow closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He exhaled slowly, calming him slightly, and proceeded towards the main office.

He barged in to the office room, ignoring the assistant's cries of protest when he knocked the door against him carelessly. An aged man behind the desk gave a small sigh of despair upon Shadow's entrance, and shook his head when he beckoned the rude hedgehog inside.

"Why am I not surprised that you have annoyed my other employees again, Shadow?" he said, adjusting his tie as he reclined further into his seat.

"I'll make this quick," Shadow pressed on. "I need to access the data that are in one of the computers I found inside the bombing site."

"You already have permission to do so, Shadow." The man sighed. "You know that."

Shadow shook his head. "No, I need to get the computer working. It needs to be turned on, to be fixed."

The man nodded in understanding. "I see. I'll let the head technician know. His name is Dick. You can go and meet him in the lab."

xxx

"A fleshy, gloopy monster?" said an orange platypus, his face set in a nostalgic look. "Bloody hell, sounds just like my ex girlfriend."

"I'm being serious here." Shadow sighed. "I need to access the data in that computer. It might help with explaining what that thing was."

Dick threw his arms up defensively. "Okay, okay, I get it." He snorted slightly, his speech impaired with a common cockney accent. The platypus hobbled over to his desk, rummaging through his messy desktop for something. Dick looked inside one of his drawers, and smiled when he found what he was looking for. He held up a black USB stick for Shadow to see before tossing it to him.

"What's this for?" Shadow asked, inspecting the tiny gadget.

"That's a special high memory USB stick." Dick answered. "Pop that into the computer, and it should do the rest for ya. Might take a while, though, depending on how much data you need to download."

Shadow nodded. "And how do I turn it on?" he asked.

"Don't need to. Like I said, just stick it in-"

"No, not the stick, the computer." Shadow sighed irritably. "How do I turn on the computer? I tried activating it, but it seems dead."

The platypus put his hand up in realisation. "Oh, I see. Yeah, you're gonna have to figure that out by yourself, mate. It's probably powered by a generator, and if a there is a generator then there should be a backup power source, just in case the main generator fails. Find the backup generator, turn it on, then bob's your uncle."

Shadow nodded before making his way out of the technician offices.

"Hey, wait!" Dick called after him. Shadow looked back at the orange platypus in annoyance. "Your partner is Lee, right? Can you tell her that I've been trying to contact her? The girl ain't answering me calls, me letters, me at the door-"

"I will do it tomorrow." The hedgehog smiled deviously. "I'll be right back in an hour or so with the data."

Dick furrowed his brows. "Aren't you taking Lee with you?" he questioned.

Shadow shook his head. "She's in a mood with me right now," he chuckled. "I'll be right back."

xxx

Shadow was prepared this time. He took his custom made weapon with him, a small magnum pistol, holstered on a strap on his back; which fit snugly between his quills. A glow stick, illuminating the cave in orange this time, was held in his hand. A strap connected Shadow to the glow stick by his wrist.

Once again he was at the distorted metal door, only the hole underneath was smaller due to Shadow's hasty escape. He crouched down and crawled through it, finding the gap a much tighter squeeze to inch through. Once Shadow was on the other side he immediately drew out his gun, aiming it wherever he looked.

Movement to his left. Shadow reeled around; pistol ready, his finger itching to pull the trigger. The monster from before was ahead of him, illuminated in orange, twitching its head from time to time. Its broken arm was on the floor helplessly, unmoving and useless. The mass of meat was convulsing when it breathed, and Shadow could hear it gurgle slightly every time the being exhaled.

It was dying.

Shadow stood before it, aiming his weapon carefully, his sights directed between its two blank eyes. The hedgehog wondered if it could see anything, and waved his foot in front of its face to check if it blinked. It didn't, and it continued to stare unknowingly into space. Shadow sighed as he stared at the sorrowful clump of flesh. He clicked the gun.

"See you in Hell."

The whole room was illuminated in a brief flash as he squeezed the trigger. The monster breathed no more, and grey liquid escaped from the gaping hole between its milky eyes. Shadow wrinkled his nose at the sight and made his way to the computer on the far end of the room. He bent down, checking the computer unit for any switches. He found a standby button on the front, but Shadow also found that it wouldn't turn on.

"The power source..." he muttered under his breath. "Where is the power connected to this thing?"

Kicking glass fragments out of the way, and brushing aside wires that Shadow has judged unimportant, he eventually found a network of cables which seemed to be connected to all of the units. The mass of wires eventually merged together, forming into a fat clump of cables. It trailed away from the computer, hugging the edge of the walls, before following up a corner. The clump of wires disappeared into a square vent, which was imbedded into a wall.

Shadow looked up at the vent, scanning it through calculating crimson eyes. He sighed, staring at the metallic bolts at each of the corners of the vent cover. Once more the disgruntled hedgehog took hold of his gun, aiming it at the screws. Four shots; each were a perfect direct hit. The vent cover clattered on the ground noisily.

At the corner of his eye, Shadow caught a glimpse of something shift inside the murky pods. He looked at the dark silhouette, nervous as to what may be inside it. He couldn't quite make out what it was, and its form was different to the monster Shadow had just terminated. Shadow didn't want to stay to find out.

He holstered his gun and climbed up some pipes. He vaulted over to the side, climbing on top of a nearby pod. With Shadows gaze locked on the open vent, he jumped and grabbed the edge of the opening, pulling himself inside. He started crawling through it on all fours. The hedgehog shoved some of the wires aside irritably, and he felt uncomfortable with the increasingly tightening crawl space as more wires seemed to join him. Eventually he pulled himself through a gap, and Shadow had to hold his breath to squeeze through.

Breathing again, Shadow stood up as he found himself in another room, albeit a smaller one. Ahead of him he saw a pillar, a small computer unit embedded into the metal post. There was a small hatch underneath it, open. Shadow inspected it, noticing that the latch was dust free. He also noticed that there were disturbed patched of dust and grime on the floor, imprints of boots scattered here and there. These footprints were far too big to be Shadows own.

"Someone has been here..." Shadow thought out loud. He looked back at the open hatch, shining his glow stick within it. It was empty; only a diamond shape cast was inside, wires disconnected and torn from what was previously inside. "And that someone took whatever was inside this..."

He traced his fingers around the cast. Judging by the size of the hollow, the object must have been just around the size of his clenched fist. Shadow narrowed his eyes, scanning the area around him. Every time he searches for answers, new questions seemed to crop up.

xxx

Lee bit her lip, clenching her pen tighter. The otter was already in a bad mood, and the piles of paperwork ahead of her seemed to worsen her headache. He ears twitched when her office door clicked open. An orange platypus walked in, a cup of coffee in each hand.

"Alright, Lee?" he greeted happily. Lee looked at him with chagrin, raising a brow as he put a cup of coffee down on her desk. "Cream and two sugars, just how you like it."

Lee, once again, gawked. She glanced at the platypus, then at the steaming cup, then back up at the platypus. "I don't take cream..." she grumbled monotonously. "I'm lactose intolerant, Dick."

"Oh, shi-" he spluttered into his cup, burning his tongue. "What about the chocolates I have been sending you?"

"I threw them away," Lee replied, her eyes half lidded. "Look, I have a lot of paperwork to do, so you if you don't mind-"

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, yeah sure, I'll make you another one! Without cream this time-"

"Dick, listen to me!" she growled impatiently. "I don't want a cup of coffee. Stop sending me chocolates, stop sending me cards, or letters! I've just come out of a messy divorce, and I have to do some overtime at work to pay off some debt!"

Dick remained silent. Instead he drummed his fingers across his coffee cup, the sound irritated the already cross otter. The platypus nodded as he mulled over her words.

Lee sighed, resting her head in her hands. "Sorry..." she mumbled. "I'm just a little bit tired. But if you want to help me out, give these documents to Shadow. Tell him that I've filled them out and that he needs to sign it."

Lee handed Dick the thick pile of paper, who took it gently. Dick was about to leave her office before halting in realisation. He turned around, his coffee sloshing noisily in his cup. "Oh yeah, forgot to mention," he said. "Shadow ain't in his office. Should I pop it on his desk instead?"

The otter frowned. "Why? Where is he?"

"He's collecting some data from the bomb site. He left about..." he glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes tops."

Lee's eyes widened. Her expression was livid. "He what?" she shouted. "For God's sake!"

The otter stood up abruptly, barging past Dick with force. She slammed the door angrily, startling Dick with her quick and overdramatic exit. He sighed, looking at the coffee cup on her desk, untouched and forgotten.

xxx

There were a few sparks as the backup generator powered up. Shadow stood back from the machinery as it whirred into life. The room started to flicker as the lights above were slowly turning on. Screens on the walls flashed with letters, numbers, charts and diagrams. The outdated technology eventually powered up and turned on.

Shadow made his way back through the vent into the main room. As he touched down on the ground from the ledge he almost gawked. The pods were finally illuminated, and the liquid inside started to bubble. Inside each of the pods was some sort of creature; fleshy, muscular and veined. They were bigger than the abomination Shadow had killed, and they looked much more menacing. Each of these monsters also had all four limbs, unlike the stunted mutant he encountered, and both arms had long, sharp claws.

"Damn..."

Shadow ran up to the computer, plugging in the USB stick to the main computer unit. He turned it on, the monitor flashing into life. A loading icon popped up, with a bar indicating its download process. Underneath the loading bar was a timer, referring to the approximate amount of time before the download is complete.

"Ten minutes..." Shadow breathed.

There was a crash behind the black hedgehog, startling him. Shadow span around, his gun already in hand as he aimed ahead of him. Fluid poured all over the metal floors, and glass shattered all over the place as they fell from each pod. The monsters inside slithered out, wires snapping and separating like artificial umbilical cords. The monsters pink and wrinkled like newborn babies.

There were eight of them, and they all quivered as they moved, getting used to their limbs. He watched them as they all edged towards the mutated being Shadow killed, tucked away in a corner, relying on their sense of smell as they picked up the scent of the dead body. Each of them picked at its flesh, nibbling it, testing it, before escalating into a frenzy of tearing flesh and crunching bones.

Shadow held his pistol tighter, suddenly feeling very insecure with his weapon, which seemed small and pathetic compared to the towering beasts in front of him.

"I'm gonna need a bigger gun..."

xxx

_I think Shadow still isn't fleshed out enough, and I need to really show his true arrogance, intelligence and determination in this story somehow. I just... can't... do... eeeeet!_


	5. Blood

**Sacrifice to Time**

**Chapter 5**

The stench of blood filled the room, mixing in with a cocktail of foul smelling liquid that spilled all over the floor. The smell reminded Shadow of bile, and combined with the rotten odour of the monsters in front of him, he was feeling slightly nauseous. Shadow wrinkled his nose as he watched the monsters tear up the flesh of their dead counterpart.

Shadow looked behind him, reading the download completion time on the computer screen. Nine minutes left. He looked back at the monsters. They haven't noticed Shadow. Yet. He stood still, keeping his breathing low and quiet.

The computer made a few beeping noises, indicating that five minutes is left before the download was complete. One of the monsters perked up, its bald head rose from the group that were still eating. Shadow became anxious, and he gripped his gun a little more tightly.

The rest of the group ignored the stray monster as it left its meal. Its large feet splashed noisily from the pools of liquid, and occasionally it crunched against the bits of glass on the floor. It seemed unaffected from the glass fragments, and Shadow concluded that these monsters could not feel pain.

Its head rose a little higher, sniffing the air, its milky blind eyes swivelling aimlessly in its sockets. It paused, its muscular shoulders tensed. The giant stood there for a while, flexing its claws as it pondered. Then it knelt down, going down on all fours, and crept in a feline manner, towards Shadows direction.

The hedgehog held his breath, aiming his gun at the monsters' head. He gave a quick peek at the computer screen. Four minutes left. The monster had seemingly not detected Shadow yet. It crept up towards the computer, just inches away from Shadow. It sniffed the keys, sticky saliva oozed from the corners of its mouth. Its elbow nudged the memory stick, disconnecting it from the computer.

"Damn..." Shadow cursed under his breath. He edged quietly towards the stick, trying to push it back in without the monster noticing. The giant nudged it again; however the strap had gotten caught around one of its claws. It pulled away, taking the stick with it as it sauntered back towards the group.

Shadow was mortified. Now he was in trouble.

xxx

"Dick," Lee shouted through her communicator. It was wired into her hands free headset, fitted securely around her ear. "Dick, can you try and call Shadow. I can't get through to him."

Dick sniffed from the other side of the line. "Nah," he muttered. "The spackhole ain't answerin'."

The otter cursed in frustration. "Try again. I'm going into the bomb site."

She ran to her hover car. Not bothering to put on her safety belt, she drove as fast as she could back to the cliffs. Her brown eyes were narrowed in a mixture of anger and frustration. Lee was angry, yet again, because of her partner's impudence. She was frustrated because of his disrespect towards her, her work, and her wellbeing. No one stressed her out more than Shadow. Never in her twenty five year life had Lee despised anyone more than the eternally infuriating hedgehog.

The otter swerved the car dangerously into a parking space. She threw her G.U.N car permit on her dashboard before she ran back out. She sprinted across a grassy field, the smell of dry grass waking her up as she sped towards the cliff edge. The inky sea below was calmer than usual, and as Lee looked across the horizon, the divide between the night sky and the black ocean merged into each other, forming an indistinguishable black void of darkness.

Lee looked around the area, searching for any climbing harnesses that Shadow may have used to descend back into the cave. She peered over the edge, finding none. The otter sighed, rolling her eyes as she jutted her jaw in aggravation. Lee took a few steps back, leaving some room for a run-up. Taking in a few short breaths she ran to the edge, doing a swan dive once she went over the brink.

The sea was cold, but Lee didn't mind it. Feeling the rising bubbles tickle against her fur, and the sudden absence of gravity taking hold of her body, Lee felt right at home. Internally she smiled, momentarily forgetting the real reason she had decided to take a midnight swim. But Lee then frowned once she remembered that she had to see a certain charmless hedgehog.

She swam towards the mouth of the cave, shaking some of the seawater off her fur as she hoisted herself up. Lee ran inside, taking out a small pocket torch to light her way. The light was limited, but it was enough for her to distinguish a metal door in front of her. She put the torch between her teeth, lighting up the door as she tried to pry the door apart. She looked down, noticing water pouring out of a narrow gap between the doors. She knelt down, grimacing at the smell of the thick liquid. Lee took hold of her torch and shone it through the gap, trying to distinguish anything in the darkness.

The door suddenly beeped. It slid open, and something warm toppled over her. She grunted as she tried to push it off her, but it was too big and heavy. Lee then became concerned as the weight was suddenly lifted off her. She shone her torch at it, regretting doing so immediately.

A clawed hand swiped at her, missing the otter by inches if she hadn't rolled out of the way. Lee stood up, wishing she had brought a gun with her. Her torch suddenly stopped working, leaving her in total darkness. She panicked as she ran in no particular direction, her hand on the cave wall in an attempt to guide her.

She tripped. A grunt escaped from her lips as she tried to push herself up. A knock to her head, a shove to her back, the floor to her chest, winded and scared from the struggle. Lee rolled over. Her chest was suddenly compressed from a great weight, constricting her lungs from air. She opened her mouth, releasing non-existent screams.

Two flashes of light. Thunderous explosions. A roar of pain. The weight lifted off her, and she sucked in the air that was stolen from her burning lungs. The cave was then illuminated in orange, cast off from the glow stick on Shadows wrist. He ran up to her, hoisted her up gingerly with her arm, and grabbed something from the claws of the dead monster.

"You shouldn't have come," he panted, his voice thick in a mixture of anger and surprise. "Let's get out of here."

Lee didn't object. Half running, half dragged, she ran with Shadow to the end of the cave. They jumped into the water, escaping from the pursuing monsters. They all paused at the edge, smelling the sea water, contemplating whether they should jump or not. Shadow sighed in relief.

"What the hell are they?" Lee questioned, finally able to get her voice back. She paddled up to Shadow. The sea water stung her shoulder. A bleeding wound she hadn't noticed until now. Shadow observed the blood seeping out of the gash, watching the dark trails drift towards the cave mouth. The beasts lowered their heads to the sea water, sniffing at it.

"They can smell your blood," Shadow said as he watched them. "They are attracted to it."

Otter and hedgehog watched the monsters. "I hope they can't swim..." Lee said. Shadow nodded.

One by one they jumped in to the water, succumbing to the urge to follow the scent of Lees' blood. All of them jumped in. None of them rose back to the surface.

"Drowning it is..." Shadow concluded, watching the bubbles as they erupted from the ocean. He swam up to the cliff, climbing up on a jutting piece of rock. He looked back at Lee. "How are you getting back up?"

Lee sighed. "I was hoping I could use the climbing gear after you," she called out. "Then I remembered that you didn't use any."

Shadow shrugged. "I have my hover boots," he replied, a smug expression on his face. "I would carry you, but I think you're a bit fat for the job."

The otter narrowed her eyes. "I'll swim to the beach on the other side of the cove."

"Swim?"

"Yes, swim!" Lee said as she did a backstroke. "I'm an otter, you spackhead."

xxx

"Did you go swimming?" Dick said, yawning from fatigue. "Bit late to go swimming if you ask me. Me Nan told me to never swim late at night-"

A wet towel was thrown at his face, courtesy of Lee, and she grumbled a string of curses as she entered the technician's office. Shadow was already inside, seated comfortably in a chair, his fur dry. The otter shook her head at Shadow, and sat in a chair in the opposite side of the room from him. Dick returned to his computer, typing and double clicking as he retrieved the data that Shadow had previously downloaded.

"Some of the data is corrupted," Dick muttered. "Did you take the stick out before the download was finished?"

Shadow nodded.

"Ah, that ain't recommended." Dick pointed at his computer screen. "A lot of the stuff is all jumbled up. Most of it doesn't make any sense, but the bits that do make sense are... interesting."

Lee raised a brow. "Interesting?"

"Yeah, yeah," Dick took out a small remote control. He pressed a button at the overhead projector, the image from his computer screen transferred on a white board the other side of the office. "Right, it says here that this project is growing new life forms. Dunno what for, but somewhere along here it says something about a vessel. So I'm guessing that they are trying to create a vessel for something."

Shadow nodded in understanding.

"But, it also says that this lab had a batch of failed vessels. Most of the monster things were mutated and underdeveloped, so they closed this lab down." Dick brought up a new window, and he scrolled down to a highlighted piece of text. "Now, here it says that there are other labs like this all over the world. There are seven of them in total, and all of these were doing the same thing as the lab you just came out of."

"The same project?" Shadow enquired. Dick nodded. "What is the project called?"

The platypus opened up yet another window. Text was scattered here and there, and some binary replaced words where the data was corrupted. Dick highlighted a string of words with his mouse. "It says here that this is called 'Project Nephilim'. But that's not all. Look at this."

Lee and Shadow looked closer at the projector screen.

"It seems that the vital ingredient for Project Nephilim to work is the manipulation of the Chaos Emeralds. The Chaos Emeralds have been missing for two hundred years!" Dick clapped in excitement. "I think we found where the Chaos Emeralds finally are! They must be in those labs!"

Shadow pondered over this new piece of information. "I have a feeling that they are not there anymore." The black hedgehog proposed. "I think a Chaos Emerald had been taken out of one of the generators inside the lab. And recently. Maybe that was why it was bombed, because the Emerald was their goal."

Lee nodded. "You've handled Chaos Emeralds before, haven't you Shadow?"

"Yes. And if they have been pursued in such an unsubtle manner, then the reason can't be good. In the past, their powers have often been abused by people who wanted to conquer the world. Their methods were often unsubtle and destructive. Just like the bombing of the cliffs." Shadow closed his eyes. "Come to think of it..."

Shadow stood up, pacing the office as he looked down at the floor in thought. "Lee, remember when you came storming into my home a couple of years ago?"

Lee gave him an incredulous look. "I've lost count of how times I have done that, knowing how often you piss me off."

"Remember when you told me off for using Chaos Control?"

The otter nodded.

"I used Chaos Control to save someone who fell off those very cliffs. I must have detected the Chaos Emeralds energy somehow to use it."

Lee grinned, realising what Shadow had meant. "So there was an Emerald inside the lab. How did you know it was in there?"

Shadow shook his head. He stopped pacing. "I didn't. Another thing. Usually, in the past anyway, I needed to have the Emerald physically in my hand if I wanted to use its energy. You know how far in the Chaos Emerald would be in those cliffs. I never knew they were inside there anyway."

"I know! I know!" Dick chirped, his hand raised like a school boy who knew the answer to a teacher's question. "You must be psychic! You know, like, uhh, like Superman, yeah!"

Silence.

"Dick," Lee said. "You're a nob."

Shadows eyes widened. "Dick," he whispered. "You're a genius..."

Lee and Dick looked at the hedgehog in unison, their expressions confused and questionable. "Wha'?"

Shadow began to walk out of the office. He paused at the door. "Dick," he said over his shoulder. "I want you to try and find the locations of each of the labs. Lee, I want you to get plane tickets to each of those locations when he finds them out. Take the expenses from my wages. I want you to get five tickets to each of those locations."

"Five?" Lee questioned. "Shadow, there are only three of us. Who else are you taking?"

Shadow turned around. "You'll see."

And he left.

xxx

Silver sat outside the front door. He took off one of his shoes, looking inside before he shook it. A small stone fell out and Silver put his shoe back on, satisfied that his foot will no longer be discomforted. Blaze looked down at him, her arms crossed, a curious look on her face.

"Silver, what's going on?"

The grey hedgehog looked up at the lavender cat. "Don't worry; I'm just getting a stone out of my shoe. It was bothering me since this morning-"

"No, I mean, why are we here? Outside some strange man's house?"

"Oh," he muttered. "Don't worry, he's not strange. He called us here. He said that he wanted to see us urgently. Maybe it's because he's excited that I'm doing a school project about him!"

The front door opened, and Shadow emerged from his home. He was busy reading a wad of paperwork, held together with a paperclip on the corner. Shadow beckoned to two inside, not looking up from the paper as he did so.

"Hi sir," Silver greeted enthusiastically. "I'm guessing that you wanted us so we could talk about my school assignment-"

"Kid," Shadow interrupted as he finally tore his eyes away from the papers in his hand. "How are your telekinesis skills?"

Silver blinked. "Uh..." he stalled. "I guess its okay. I have been practising and getting trained and all-"

"And your friend?" he said as he looked over at Blaze. "You are psychic as well, yes?"

Blaze nodded. "Yes, I am."

Shadow nodded. "Good."

Silver and Blaze glanced at each other uncertainly. Shadow returned to reading the documents in his hand.

"Listen," Shadow started. "How would you like to accompany me and my colleagues to Italy?"

_[Insert ludicrous reaction here]_


	6. Touch

**Sacrifice to Time**

**Chapter 6**

"Silver!"

"Huh?"

Blaze nudged the grey hedgehog. Silver fidgeted in his seat, trying to get himself comfortable.

"Silver, stop moving," she sighed, reclining in her own chair. "I'm trying to get to sleep."

Silver whispered an apology. Fighting the urge to move once more, he decided to observe his surroundings. He was in a small private jet, and everything seemed compressed in size. There were only eight seats in their section, all lined up in one side of the jet, the other side had a lounge sofa. A bottle of wine was situated on a table which extended from the sofa. Lee was sitting comfortably on the leather seat, eyes closed, drinking her wine with content. Dick was nearby, typing away on his laptop, his seat belt still fitted. Shadow sat next to Dick, reading yet another wad of documents. Occasionally Shadow walked out of his seat to talk to Lee, the subject strictly business, and then the hedgehog would return to his seat.

Silver breathed in, shutting his eyes as he reclined further into his own leather seat. The whir of the engines was starting to annoy him, and the artificial smell of the recycled air made him feel discomforted and restless. This was his first time to fly. At first he was excited, but his excitement declined fast as he realised how unnatural the plane felt.

Lee poured herself another glass of wine. She swirled the glass, watching the crimson liquid as it stirred. Through the whirlpool of wine the otter stared at the distorted reflection of Silver and Blaze, both of them bored. Lee sighed. She sipped her wine again, licking her lips as she savoured the taste. Nothing pleases her more than Californian red wine. She reached over for the bottle to top up her glass again.

"Isn't that a little too much?"

Lee looked over at Shadow, who stood in front of her, paperwork clutched in his hand. Lee raised a brow as she refilled her glass, ignoring Shadows suggestion. "We still have two hours before we land," she commented. "I can sober up until then."

Shadow folded his arms at her. He watched Lee take a few more sips of her drink before he wordlessly sat down next to her. Shadow resumed reading his documents, a bored expression on his face, his eyes closely scanning the words on the paper. Lee leaned over, reading the documents over his arm. Shadow glanced at Lee in irritation. "You're annoying me."

Lee huffed as she caught Shadows glare. She shuffled away from him, taking a larger gulp of wine as she did so. "You're so uptight," Lee scolded. "You need to relax more. I don't want to work with you if you carry on being so crabby."

Shadow jutted out his jaw at her words. Wound up, he put down the paper work on the seat next to him and leaned back into the sofa. He turned his head towards Lee. "Pour me a glass."

Lee didn't object. She handed him a generous sized wine glass from a compartment under the sofa, then poured in the rest of the contents of the wine bottle. Shadow nodded in thanks before downing the glass in one go, clearly in need for the beverage. Lee's eyes widened slightly as she watched him do so. She smirked, drinking her own at a much slower pace. "Drunkard..." she laughed.

The plane was silent, bar the high pitched whine of the jet engines. Shadow returned to reading his paperwork, albeit in an unperturbed manner. Lee stole a glimpse of him, narrowing her eyes. "Shadow," she began, her voice in a low whisper. Shadows ears twitched in response. "Why did you bring those two with us? Blaze and Silver, I mean."

"I'll need them," he replied, his voice equally as quiet. "They'll help me with finding the Chaos Emeralds."

Lee shook her head, disapproving with her partners motives. "They are just kids. We can't involve two fifteen year old children in this mission," the otter criticised. "I mean, it could get dangerous, they could get hurt-"

"I once met someone at fifteen," he interrupted. "Even though he was incredibly young, he still managed to save the world countless times against the Doctor."

"He's different. Sonic was a hero."

"And Silver and Blaze are different too, Lee." Shadow put down his papers once again to look over at Lee. The otter was still sceptical however.

"You barely know them, Shadow." She sighed.

"And you never knew Sonic." He argued, his voice slightly escalating in volume. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "It's been many years, but there are still things that I can clearly remember from him, and one of those things was Sonics' attitude. Silver has a similar attitude to him. He has a similar attitude to me."

Lee smirked. "Similar to you?" she scoffed as she looked over at Silver. "He's nothing like you, Shadow. Silver is a nice boy. You, however, are about as nice as being stabbed."

Shadow gave a small laugh at this, finding her misunderstanding humorous. The hedgehog stood back up. "I'm talking about his determination. I can tell he is determined for doing a good job, even just by looking at him."

Lee looked at Shadow with chagrin, her arms folded across her chest. "Cheesy," she said. The otter sighed, shaking her head as he walked off. "Well, I hope you know what you are doing, Shadow."

xxx

Many hours and an additional coach ride later, the group finally arrived at their destination. They all deposited their gear and cases at a ski lodge hotel, a hotel of a reasonable three star standard. Although it was out of season, the ski resort was still bustling with fanatics of the sport. Children and adults, both of a beginner to professional standards, were skiing enthusiastically through the Alpine mountains. Despite the sun shining strongly on the pristine white snow, their location still granted them with incredibly cold temperatures.

Clad in a thick ski jacket, Silver and Blaze huddled together for warmth, Blaze seemingly able to easily generate heat to distribute to a shivering hedgehog.

"You brought us here for skiing?" Silver exclaimed from chattered teeth. "Cool!"

Dick waved Silvers comment off. "Nah, we ain't goin' skiing. Though I spaff my pants just thinkin' about it."

Silver sighed, his ears drooped in disappointment. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small rectangular box. Dick laughed as he looked at it. "What's so funny?" Silver questioned, confused at the platypus' reaction.

Dick pointed at the black box. "Is that a mobile phone?" he snorted between laughs. "Mate, that thing must be ancient! Don't you have a card?" Dick pulled out a card from his own pocket, the size and shape reminded Shadow of a credit card in the past. "What model is that brick, anyway?"

"An iPhone..."

Dick smirked, patting Silver on the shoulder. "That hench thing must be as old as Captain Codger over there," he chuckled as he pointed at Shadow with his thumb. "That phone is old. I'm surprised it works still. Does it have the old vibrate alerts? That is so weird!"

Silver looked down at his phone, dialling a number using the touch screen. "It's not old," the hedgehog objected. "I prefer the term 'antique', actually."

Blaze laughed at Silvers optimism. Silver smiled back at her, ignoring Dick and his unmanly giggling. The lavender cat left Silver when his call was being answered by his parents, announcing that he had arrived in Italy safely. She walked up to Lee, who was busy discussing directional matters with Shadow, a map spread out as both of them held each side. Blaze, being polite, waited until Lee had finished talking to the black hedgehog.

"What exactly are we doing here?" the cat asked, her tail swishing from side to side in curiosity. "Your explanations were a bit vague."

Lee looked down at her, the ears twitching from the cold air. "We are trying to search for a place, a research unit." She glanced over at Silver. "You and Silver will be needed to help us track it down."

Shadow turned around. He beckoned Silver to come closer; the same gesture was repeated to Dick. "Silver, Blaze, have you ever heard of the Chaos Emeralds?" Shadow asked, his calculating eyes scanning over the two teenagers. Blaze looked over at Silver, who was just as confused as she was. "Lee will explain later."

xxx

The climb up the mountains was tedious, tiring, and increasingly troubling. The whole group was tired from the trek, except Shadow, who seemed completely unaffected from the hike. Their boots crunched through the snow, and it was more of a struggle for the shorter limbed Dick, who had to wade through the snow with difficulty.

Shadow paused, looking behind him to see the distance between him and the rest of the group. The gap was fairly long, and so he waited until the rest of them had caught up. Lee sat in the snow next to him, her heavy breathing causing miniature clouds to form in front of her face. Silver and Blaze sat next to her, while Dick just collapsed face first into the white powder.

"What's up, Shadow?" Lee asked, her breathing slowly becoming regular again. "Found something?"

Shadow nodded. He looked at their surroundings, the grey mountains bordering against the clear blue horizon, the glare of the sun reflected harshly from the snow into their eyes. Shadow looked at the ground, kicking away the snow to make a small hole. He stopped as soon as he saw the grey rocks beneath, and he knelt down to pick up a stone half the size of his fist. Shadow turned around and handed it over to Silver.

"Use your telekinesis to make that stone hover," Shadow ordered. Silver gave him a confused look, but obeyed without objection. "Stand next to me."

Silver walked up to Shadow, the rock hovering in front of his chest. Silvers fingers twitched as he corrected it from straying to his left, the stone glowing with a green light. "Sir," Silver began. "Why do you want me to do this? None of this makes any sense."

"Ask Lee later on." He replied, his voice low. Silver, intimidated by Shadows crude reply, remained quiet from there on.

Shadow shut his eyes, his face set in a frown, his brows furrowed in concentration. He sighed as he opened his eyes again. The black hedgehog looked over at Lee, who sat down contently in the snow, and tilted his head. He took off his inhibitor rings and threw them over to her. Shadow resumed to closing his eyes, once again in a state of deep focus.

He felt nothing. Shadow couldn't detect any energy.

"Blaze," Shadow called her over. "Can you do the same as Silver?"

Blaze shook her head. "I don't have the same psychic power as Silver."

He blinked. "Well, what can you do?"

"I have pyrokinesis," she said. "I can control fire."

Shadow shook his head, returning to standing next to Silver. Blaze felt slightly indignant, intimidated by his strange nature. Silver gave Blaze a reassuring smile, losing his concentration of levitating the stone, causing it to drop into the snow. Silver chuckled at his mistake.

"Let's try this again." Shadow grunted, feeling a little discouraged. He picked up the stone and handed it over to Silver, giving him a small pat on the shoulder.

The contact he had on Silver made him suddenly aware, as if his touch gave him a small electric shock. Shadows ears pricked up slightly, his heart racing at the sudden sensation. He felt it. He felt the Chaos Emeralds energy. Shadow touched his shoulder, leaving his hand on him for a while.

"Silver, levitate the stone." Shadow ordered, his voice more urgent. Silver nodded as he did so and as Silver used his psychic powers Shadow could feel the signal become stronger. He smirked, determination and adrenaline suddenly taking over. He looked at Lee, hinting her to pass him back his rings. "Just as I thought," Shadow whispered, taking his hand off Silver to put his rings back on his wrists. "Kid, you're an aerial to the Chaos Emeralds energy. I'm guessing that your psychic powers attract that energy, and I can feel it when I touch you."

Shadow walked up to Dick, the two conversing about communicators. The platypus handed Shadow a small black backpack, who chucked it over to Silver. Silver put the pack on, adjusting the straps. He glanced back at Shadow, his heart suddenly racing when he saw the black hedgehog handle a magnum hand pistol. "Is that a gun?"

Shadow nodded as he placed it in a newly fitted holster on his back. "Yes." He stated casually.

Silver looked over at Blaze worriedly, who looked equally as anxious. The grey hedgehog then eyed the gun on Shadows back. "We aren't gonna need it," Silver said uncertainly. "Are we?"

The umber hedgehog sighed, his head cocked as he gave a tilted glance at Silver. "Would you rather have a gun and not need it," he paused. "Or would you rather need a gun, and not have it?"

Silver watched him, mulling over his words. The black hedgehog, which scared Silver at first, suddenly made him feel safer. He made him feel protected; Silver felt that Shadow knew exactly what he was doing. Shadow knew what he wanted, and he knew what he wanted others around him to do. Even the way he talked, everyone would become silent and listen. Listened to what he has to say, listened to what he had planned, listened to his spoken thoughts. Everyone notices every move he made. Everyone watched him. And everybody immediately felt overpowered by Shadows calculating gaze.

The black hedgehog picked up the fallen stone and handed it to Silver. He glanced at Dick and Lee, nodding his head in a silent command, then at Blaze and Silver. "Silver, levitate the stone." He commanded. "Blaze, rest your arm on my shoulder. Dick, Lee, link arms with me."

They all did as they were told. Shadow closed his eyes, focused, determined, excited. He put his hand on Silvers extended arm, levitating the stone between the grey hedgehog's hands. There was a moment of silence, and only the high pitched whistle of the cold winds tickled their ears.

Shadow tensed under each of their touches.

"Chaos Control!"

A bright light surrounded them, the cold air warping around their skins. Each of them felt as if something was lifting them up into the air, wrenching them higher by their insides. Their lungs felt compressed, their gasps absorbing air that seemed nonexistent. Suddenly it felt like they were falling, their shoes feeling contact with metal floors. Blaze bit her lip, not expecting the experience. The light ceased. A green glow surrounded the room they were in, their environment changed.

Clean, cold air was replaced by a stagnant smell, similar to damp and mould. They were in a much larger room, green light emitted from bubbling pods, with additional light shining off computer screens. Buttons and small display monitors were mounted on the metal walls. The group let go of Shadow, each of them looking around in awe.

"We're in." Shadow grinned. He turned around, his expression suddenly serious. "Blaze, Silver, you two better be around Lee, she will protect you. Stick close to me, Lee. Dick, try and extract as much data as you can from these computers. I'll try and find the Chaos Emeralds."

Dick nodded. He ran past them, giving the teenagers a small wave, and settled in front of a large computer unit. The platypus took out his laptop, among other technological gadgets out of his bag, putting them to use when plugging them to the main computer. Shadow found that this certain lab was bigger than the one in England, and there were extra doors that lead to other rooms. Each door had a label in Italian, each indicating where they were meant to go.

"Wow..." Silver breathed. "I can't read what it says. Why don't they have all of the signs in English?"

Shadow barked a laugh, giving Silver a sideways glance as he did so. "I find it funny how the world is so globalised today." He shrugged off Silver. "The world converted all of their languages to English around a century ago. Italian used to be spoken here."

"Italian?" Silver murmured, mimicking Shadow. "So this lab must be a hundred years old!"

Shadow inspected the signs, interpreting the language. "This door must lead to the power room," he sighed. "By the looks of things, the Chaos Emerald must still be powering this lab."

Lee's ears twitched. She looked over at Dick. "Hey! Dick!" she called. The platypus looked up from his work. "Dick, when are you going to finish downloading? Shadow is about to cut the power."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Nearly done," he replied. A beep later, the download was done. "Right, you can kill the wire now."

Shadow opened the door, revealing a dark metal corridor. "Lee, stay here with the kids," he ordered as he pulled out the pistol. "Watch the pods. If anything comes out of them at any time, then run and find me inside. I'll be right back."

He darted through, activating the skate jets on the soles of his shoes. Shadow smirked, feeling a familiar rush of adrenaline pump through his veins as he ran at full pelt. He could feel the Chaos Emerald, its energy tingled his skin. It was calling for him, calling for a master to control the gem, and it awakened this hunger within Shadow, the hunger for the power it possessed.

Shadow laughed uncharacteristically, his red eyes narrowing as he saw a glow of blue ahead of him. For years, Shadow had felt like he was alive just for the sake of being alive. He isn't going to carry on with this forever, to carry on surviving like a normal mortal being. No, Shadow wasn't made for that. Shadow was made to satiate this deep hunger within him.

Shadow lives for the Chaos Emerald.

His hands shaking with anticipation and completely oblivious to the rest of his surroundings, his red eyes drank up the sight of the generator ahead of him. Metal claws had a blue glowing gem in its clasp, and Shadow's heart was beating harder and harder the nearer he got to it.

"There you are," he whispered, his face illuminated in ghostly blue glow. "It's been a while."

He cupped a hand gently underneath the Chaos Emerald, lifting it slowly from the sharp claws of the generator. Oddly enough there was not a blemish or mark on the shiny surface of the gem, an odd but eerie contrast to the rest of the machinery around him, which was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. Shadow smirked as he tapped into the Emerald's energy, feeling its warmth which snaked its way up his arms.

The generator hissed, and then one by one the lights, monitors, notices and buttons switched off. The area became silent as the whir of electrical energy died.

"Time to head back," he said to himself. "Maybe I should reward those kids by letting them ski-"

A scream echoed through the metal walls, followed by the sounds of crashing glass and splashing water. Gunshots, rapid fire from Lee's automatic weapon, followed by more screams and an unearthly and monstrous roar.

"Shadow!" the cries of Dick's voice was barely audible through Lee's gun. "Shit-"

Shadow didn't need to be told twice. Holding tight to the Chaos Emerald in his hands, he released a guttural battle cry as blue energy swirled around him.

"Chaos Control!"

xxx

_Huzzah!_


End file.
